If I were to buy a cheap guitar and I felt like this was something I was going to stick with, I'd probably consider looking for a used Squier stratocaster or an Epiphone Les Paul. I actually have a heavily modded Epiphone Les Paul Custom and when it comes to ease of playing, it's the best guitar I have.
This is just what I'd do. A stratocaster is the essential electric guitar played by artists like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Dave Gilmour or Mark Knopfler. They are made by the company Fender and are relatively expensive, but Fender also owns the company Squier which makes cheaper versions of strats and telecasters.
There's a similar story with the Les Paul, another of the guitar worlds most famous guitar models played by guys like Slash and Jimmy Page. Les Pauls are made by the company Gibson and are quite expensive, but Gibson also bought up their competitor Epiphone and now Epiphone churn out less expensive versions of the les paul.
Many other companies make knock-off versions of these classic guitars too, but if you get a Squier or an Epiphone, at least it has some tie to the real lineage
edit :
Amps are also expensive, so if money were an issue, I'd just get a practice amp like a Fender Mustang or something.